Drabbly Drabbles- FMA Edition
by AlchemicAngel19
Summary: Just my own little musings, this is where I write whatever pops into my head, regardless of series, timeline, storyline, whatever. Instead of combining them all into one, I decided to make different editions- this is the FMA edition, since I have more right at the moment. ONGOING, THERE IS OCxCC IN HERE!
1. Morning Routine

Kimblee had never needed an alarm clock to tell him when to get up and moving. The morning sun was his clock; it had been since his Ishval days. Once it rose up over the horizon, and spread its feathery, fuzzy beams of light far and wide across the desert sands, right into his tent, then a new day had begun.

It really wasn't any different now over a decade later, the difference was the scenery. The run down but rising buildings of Rush Valley obstructed a lot of the light the sun graced upon the land, but all the same it managed to get him up fairly early- once it reached his and Alli's bedroom window that is.

Rising up out of the bed as a sparse ray of light hit his eyes, he rubbed the back of his neck- he woke up with neck pain because of his injury more often than not- moved the strands of raven black hair that had inevitably come out of his ponytail out of his still half asleep face, kissed Alli's forehead to greet her good morning, then he stood up and went about his morning routine- breakfast, shower, the usual.

It wasn't that long after his shower had been taken, and he had put on his burgundy blazer, that the sound of tiny feet scuttling across the wooden bedroom floor became apparent. The man turned with a wry smile, looking down and coming face to face with his young daughter Deylia. "You're early today." He said with a slight chuckle.

"I heard you up Daddy, and you know what we always do when you get up!" She said eagerly in a whisper, in an effort not to wake her still sleeping mom. The man picked her up and smiled, his long, shadowy and unruly mane falling over his shoulders. "Of course. It's routine after all."

Walking to her room quietly, he grabbed her hairbrush and a hair tie off her dresser, setting her squarely on his lap as he pulled the brush through her equally unruly ebony mane, slowly and firmly, being careful not to pull too much.

Not a word was spoken the entire time, but it had been that way since the very beginning. From the moment she had toddled into his room, not too much younger then she was now, and watched him slick his hair back into its own ponytail one morning, it had been her request that he do the same for her- that had become their special moment ever since. Like clockwork, each and every day, no matter the time, she was in his room, and that was always the signal.

Nothing really had to be said- there was always an air of content that filled her bedroom; her on his lap, doing her best to not fidget (not always an easy task for a four year old), and holding his pants, him having one hand gently on her shoulder to still her for support, sapphire eyes narrowed in concentration.

Once all the sparse strands were tamed, her hair a smooth draping mass, and he was satisfied, then he took the tie out from where he'd been holding it in his teeth, and he slipped the band around her gathered locks- once, twice. And she was done.

She turned on his lap, and hugged him, arms nowhere coming close to being able to reach around his torso. "Thank you, Daddy!" The way her face beamed and her blueberry eyes shone afterwards made it all worth it, and he couldn't help but spare one of his gentler smiles- a rare sight that only his girls were treated to.

"Anytime, honey." Placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and setting her gently on the floor, he got up and was headed for the door when a tug on his pants stopped him. His gaze met hers again, and he knelt down. "Yes, Lia?"

She looked shy, wringing her blue tunic in her little hands. "Can I brush your hair now Daddy? You always do it for me…..now I wanna do it for you." Her eyes looked hopeful, and deep down, Crimson couldn't deny that it was…..well, it did make him happy at least.

He smiled wryly again and picked her up. "I don't see why not. Just don't put any ribbons or bows in my hair okay?" She giggled from his teasing, and she hugged his neck. "Daddy!" She cried. "I don't like that stuff anyway!"

"Oh, that's right. My mistake." He grinned, walking noiselessly back into the bedroom, grabbing his own hair tie and brush, going back into her bedroom, and sitting her on the bed, before sitting on the floor- it put him at just the right height for her to brush his hair.

With her tongue sticking out in concentration, she tried to mimic the way her dad brushed her own hair- long, steady and firm strokes, without pulling too much- and for the most part she seemed to get it, though there were times where she dropped the hairbrush on his shoulder, or pulled just a little too hard, causing him to gently remind her to be careful.

All the same, he sat there patiently, pondering the situation. Never had he imagined that one day a little girl- _his_ little girl, _his_ daughter- would be brushing his hair for him. If someone had ever told him that this would be what his life would be in the future; that he would one day be married and a father, he would have thought them completely insane; even more then what he admitted he was. But here he was, and that's what he had become.

He was so lost in his thoughts, and Lia so lost in her concentration, that neither one noticed Alli standing in the doorway, her chocolate brown locks full of static, clinging to and making a halo around her face, merlot colored eyes taking on a gentle glow as she watched the two of them. A smile crept onto her face, then she went back to bed silently, content and love filling her chest and giving her a good feeling.

The woman had never been a morning person, but to herself she thought that maybe she should start waking up a little earlier, just so she could be treated to a sight like that.

_(AN: Yeah, I'm sure this has probably been done a million times over already with Kimblee and all his pairings under the sun- him having a family I mean. But let me clarify- one of the reasons he's one of my favorite characters (right behind Alphonse, and just in front of Greed) is his psychotic personality. So when I write him post-manga/Brotherhood, with his family, I do my best not to make him a Hughes 2.0, but I do incorporate a more human side to him. I like the idea of that complexity there- how on one hand he's still Crimson, who loves to kill and make his symphonies of destruction, but on the other hand he has a humanity there that wasn't there before, now that he's married and a father himself, and he can see and feel what other people see and feel with their families. Anyway, I left a big enough wall of text. Hope you enjoyed it, read and review please!) _


	2. No Point in Regrets

She lay in bed, awake as can be, staring at the ceiling above as the moonlight outside her window painted everything a silvery-blue hue. Her long honey blond hair cascaded over the side of the bed, and her bangs shadowed her emerald green eyes, which at present, were distant; lost in her rippling, bubbling stream of thoughts.

A sigh, colored with slumber, made itself known beside her, bringing her out of the void she called her mind for just a brief moment. Her hand reached up, running her fingers through his spiky black locks very slowly, very methodically, not wanting to disturb him. Then her eyes diverted back to the ceiling, as they started to memorize the patterns on the ceiling like they had thousands of times before.

Her body shuddered as a faint breeze came in from her partially opened window; she pulled the covers tighter against her bare skin, in hopes of blocking out the chills threatening to intrude. But still her eyes never left the ceiling.

_There's no point in regrets, Evelyn. Regrets don't change a damn thing. You made these choices; you have to live with them. That's something Mom and Dad have told you for years. _She firmly reminded herself, her other hand that held the sheets tensing, nails digging into the fabric. _You chose to come to Dublith, you ran into him, you made the choice to ride out the sandstorms with him…..and now you've done…..this…_

She stopped for a moment when he turned in his sleep, facing away from her, a hand holding the sheets closer to his bare form. _Probably stole them from him a little…._She thought, her eyes focusing on the Ouroboros on the back of his hand, before she turned away, eyes slowly drifting closed.

_He may not feel for you what you feel for him. But you need to accept that. You knew what you were doing, you knew the risks. Now you must face them head on. You can't look away. Mistakes make us stronger, but only if you acknowledge and learn from them. _

_ There's no point in regrets. Regrets only hold you back. _

_(AN: I'm sure this makes absolutely no sense, so I'll quickly summarize. Evelyn here is the oldest child and the oldest daughter of Alphonse and Juliette (one of my two main FMA girls), and the guy she's speaking about is Greed. Yes, the original Greed. It was based off an RP idea I'd done forever ago with my best friend in real life. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this (painfully short) story, read and review please!)_


	3. Kisses and Bandages

If there was something Juli had seen plenty of in the sixteen or so years she'd been alive, it was blood. She'd seen it covering her friends, covering the streets, covering the walls, covering _her_ hands and staining her body. So much of it that she had grown accustomed to seeing it, cleaning it up, bandaging the wounds it poured from.

Well, almost accustomed.

"Juli! Can I….uh…..get a hand here?" When she came downstairs into the lower area of her Central apartment, she nearly went out the window from freaking out. There was Alphonse- who had been back in his body for almost a year- holding his arm, liquid red dripping down his cream colored skin, painting the front of his hand with the sickening color. He had a sheepish smile on his face, cheeks tainted with a faint version of the red that colored everything else.

"What did you do, Alphonse?!" She rushed to him, setting him gently on the couch. Her short ginger hair swished around her face, as her arm outstretched into the kitchen, grabbing the towel from the handle of the oven, swiftly removing his hand and pressing the towel to the wound.

"Well, I…..heh, I got into a sparring match with Brother." _He's still walking with a crutch 90% of the time, and he thought it was a good idea to spar?! _"And he got really into it." _Figures. _"He kicked up with his leg- the automail one- and I guess there was a piece of metal on the bottom of his foot that needed to be sanded, because next thing I know, he kicks me in the arm, it cut me and I'm bleeding." _Ugh! Boys! _

She had remained silent the entire time, but when she looked up at him, her emerald eyes were anything but amused. Or pleased. "Hold the towel. I'm going to get the first aid kit." Then she disappeared upstairs.

Al put his hand over the towel firmly, blowing his honey blond bangs out of his face. It didn't take an alchemist to tell him that his girlfriend wasn't very happy; not with the situation, and not with him. She soon reappeared in front of him, gently pulling the towel away and telling him to hold it in his blood-covered hand.

No words were exchanged as she cleaned the wound with disinfectant, then wrapping it with a bandage. "…..Al, you still have trouble getting places without using a crutch. What in Truth's name made you think it was a good idea to spar now?" Her voice was quiet, but still disapproving, as she looked up into his eyes, emerald green meeting moss green.

_At least she doesn't yell at me or hit me like Teacher does. _He thought to himself, before he sighed. "Teacher always told us "when training the mind, first train the body". I haven't sparred since my soul was still in the armor _before_ the Promised Day. I figured, since I'd regained most of my strength and could actually walk without my crutch, even if only for a few minutes, I could at least try to spar. Don't blame Brother, he didn't know about the metal….."

She remained still again, before she gently held his wrist, tenderly kissing all around the wound, then she kissed his nose, noticing the red on his cheeks intensifying in color. "I don't blame anyone. And especially not you. I forget how hard it must be for you…you know, having switched bodies for a second time, and literally starting from ground zero with your real body…I just worry, that's all." Juli said quietly, before she sat by him, hands in her lap and unable to look at him; feeling guilty for having gotten mad.

He turned to her, and reached up, gently running the back of his hand down her cheek, prompting her to look up at him. "…..It is hard, having to rebuild my body so it'll be what it once was." Al admitted just as quietly, bending his head down so their eyes were level. "But I've already come so far…and it's worth it in every imaginable way. Allow me to give an example." A warm smile spread across his face as he leaned in and swept her away in a kiss.

Her lips curled into a smile against his own, arms tenderly wrapping around his neck, his gently caressing her waist and back.

They'd come a long way since they'd met in Central by Mustang's hand; especially Alphonse. They were going to continue to go farther. And there were bound to be scrapes and bruises along the way, but with a bandage and a kiss or two; the classic cure-all for any wound, they'd get through it just fine.

_(AN: This actually didn't come out that bad. I feel that it's a little forced, but can't win them all I suppose. It's still cute and fluffy, like I wanted, so at least there's that. c: At least I'm starting to do more with Al/Juli, which is my goal. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, please read and review!)_


	4. Still Nights and Spotlights

Juli couldn't sleep. Simple and straight to the point. No matter what she thought of, no matter how hard she stared at the ceiling, no matter how many long, lengthy Alchemy books she flipped through after pulling them from her bookshelf, she wouldn't tire out.

It was going to be one of those nights, she just knew it.

Walking out onto the balcony connected to her bedroom, she leaned on the railing, watching the moon come out from behind the clouds, its soft bluish-gray light illuminating the neighborhood surrounding the Armstrong manor, like a single sweeping spotlight on a stage. A slight breeze rose, entwining with her ginger orange locks as it pulled them along in a gentle but graceful dance, and making her long lavender robe ripple at its hem.

Such moments like this were rare, there was always something going on it seemed- rushing off to a place here, fighting a Homunculus there. So to be able to just walk out onto the balcony of her bedroom, enjoy the stillness of the scenery, it was nice.

But it still did nothing to tire her out.

The Alchemist was about ready to give up, feeling like she would never get tired, when from down below, she heard a voice. A voice as smooth and sweet as milk and honey, with a taste of innocence and an echo as it resonated through metal barriers. Emerald eyes peered down to the ground below, and a suit of armor stood there, soul fire eyes locking with hers. She gave said armor a sweet, gentle smile. "Alphonse, what are you doing up so late…..?"

"You know I never sleep, Juli." He said, the helmet that comprised of his face expressionless as always, but a smile clearly evident in his voice. "So I went for a walk while Brother got some sleep. And I saw you from the road…." Al's voice trailed off, the smile replaced with a shyness that wasn't uncommon for him. Definitely not around her either.

"I'm glad you came by." She said quickly, the speed she took on never canceling out the gentle warmth in her voice, but it did attempt to mask the shyness in hers. It was no secret to her or anyone else she was just as shy around him. "I always love your company…."

His soul fire eyes took on a brighter glow, signaling his true, unrefined happiness. He couldn't smile with his mouth, so his voice and eyes did the smiling for him. "I love yours too, Juli….." He said softly, before clearing his "throat". At this moment he was grateful that he had no face to betray the fact he would most likely be blushing. "So, why are you up so late?"

She was distracted by the glow in his eyes for a brief moment, before coming back to reality, hoping the dark of the night concealed the light red shade her face had taken. "Couldn't sleep. It's just one of those nights." The orange-haired girl replied, grabbing the railing as she hopped over it, letting her arms stretch as she gently dropped to the ground, enjoying the feel of the earth, withholding the warmth the sun had bestowed upon it earlier in the day, under her socked feet.

"That's a shame. Is there anything I can do?" The armor asked, rubbing the back of his head, metal clinking against metal when he did so. When she gave him a warm smile once more, a warmth in his soul seemed to rise up out of nowhere. It was a strange, but a really nice feeling, one he'd never had before.

"Unless you have a transmutation to make me sleepy in your Alchemy arsenal, I don't know if you do, Al." She replied, truthfully but kindly. He looked to the sky for a moment, then offered his arm. "I don't have a transmutation….all I can offer is a brief walk. If you want that is."

Suddenly she was caught off guard, feeling her heart beginning to beat hard in her chest. But her eyes shimmered with the happiness her face couldn't seem to convey at that moment, due to it being preoccupied with her surprise. "Sure I would Al….but I'm not exactly dressed to the nines." The girl replied shyly, taking his arm, enjoying the smooth texture of his metal underneath her fingertips.

"My teacher wears slippers out in public, and her hair is always in braids. I think you being in a robe, nightshirt and socks isn't that big of a deal. Besides…we don't have to leave the manor grounds." He said, kindly at first, then he hesitated for a moment before finishing his thought, as if he were going to say something else and changed his mind.

She nodded and smiled gently, nipping her curiosity about what he might have said in the bud before it became a conscious part of her thoughts. "That's true. Well, maybe this will finally wear me down. So lead the way."

* * *

What had originally started out as one walk around the ground turned to two, then three. They had gotten so involved in their conversations, laughing and taking enjoyment in each other's company that the whole reason for the walk to begin with had been lost.

And as ironic as it may be, the moment Juli's desire to wind down left her stream of thoughts, she did start to tire. Her words started to run together when she tried to speak, and she was beginning to yawn constantly.

"I think you should get to bed, Juli." Al said softly, having held her arm like the chivalrous man he was the entire time. "You don't know how early you'll have to be up tomorrow."

"But…..I'm enjoying our walk too much." She replied in a sleepy whisper. "And I don't want to leave you alone….." Then she pulled her arm from his, only to embrace the side of his body gently, surprised at how warm his armor body was, even with the cold evening breeze having skimmed by them both several times. "If you have to stay up, you deserve to have some company….."

He slowly put his arms around her, glove-like fingers running through her windblown ginger locks. As sweet as her willingness was to stay awake just to be a companion for him through the long, dark night- and it only helped to bring back that warmth within him from earlier- she had a living body that she needed to take care of. And that meant giving it the rest it needed.

"I'm flattered you're thinking of me Juli…..but I can't let you stay up just for me to have someone to talk to until morning. You need sleep, and the fact you can't keep your eyes open proves it." She looked up at him, emerald eyes almost pleading. "Al…"

He hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "I'm not letting you do that, Juli, I'm just not. I couldn't, in good conscience. ….But if it'll make you feel better, I'll stay with you while you sleep. I'll still have your company. I promise that I'll be fine with it!"

She had a skeptical look on her face, then sighed as she relented. "Alright. If that's what you want. It's fair enough I suppose." The girl mumbled in the midst of another long yawn, sinking down against one of the trees within sight of her balcony, pulling her robe around her for warmth and protection against the night and its chills.

Al settled in beside her, gently picking her up into his arms and holding her against him, as if trying to warm her in his embrace. "Equivalency…..you want to give me company, I want you to sleep. It's fair….." His voice was soft, his eyes locked onto the moon, as it seemed to direct its light over the two of them.

When she didn't respond, it wasn't that hard to figure out she had finally given in to slumber. He settled in closer to the tree, arms gently tightening around the girl curled up in his embrace, as he watched the trees swaying to the rhythm of the breeze.

He missed being able to sleep more than he could put into words. But sometimes not being able to sleep had its advantages. It gave him time to think, uninterrupted, something he couldn't achieve during the day. Sometimes it was a curse, other times it was a blessing.

Tonight was one of those nights where it was a gift. He knew Juli meant a lot to him….in a way he himself didn't fully understand. But now he had time to sit and think about it, analyze what these strange new feelings meant.

Something deep inside told him that he had taken the first step in the right direction in figuring it out…..and also a step down the path of one day sharing them with the ginger haired Alchemist.

_(AN: Definitely one of the better Al/Juli stories I've written. But then again, this is also not post-manga/Brotherhood. I'm actually not sure when exactly this would take place in the storyline, but who cares? Not everything has to be down to the letter. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this, please read and review!)_


	5. Confronting a Sin

She knew the laws, that the whole practice was incapable of being Equivalent Exchange. She knew it was a taboo, looked down upon by all- Alchemist, non-Alchemist, the State…..and deep down she knew that it wasn't going to work from the start. It wasn't just because she had never practiced Alchemy a day in her life, nor had she ever studied it faithfully.

There was nothing in this world that could equal a human soul.

But grief had destroyed her mind, her rational thinking. She just wanted him back. She wanted the man that had made her feel so good, the man that empowered her, helped her to break free and start anew.

The man that had inadvertently given her both a new purpose in life- as an automail engineer- after her accident, and a baby daughter that she loved with all of her heart and soul. They were due to remarry, to continue on with their lives with nothing holding them back.

One accident in the mines shattered all of that. Gone were her hopes for the future, her dreams, the things she had so desperately wanted since she was young. One accident was all it took to destroy her life.

With the man she loved lost to her for good, her life in ruins...her mind and soul collapsed under the rubble of both. She just wanted him back. She didn't care if they had to rebuild from scratch again….as long as she had him…..as long as her innocent baby girl had her father…

But like she'd known deep within, the transmutation was a failure. All she gained was something not human, and it cost her her other arm. That alone was a sign of her sin, proof that she'd gone where no mortal should ever go. Her first- and she swore it was going to be her only- attempt at Alchemy had been to cross the most forbidden of domains.

She was reminded of her sin everyday- her two automail arms- the right being a sign of the life he had given her, the left a sign of the life she was stripped of and so desperately wanted back- the memories of being sent to the Gate, dragged in and seeing things so horrifying that they were forever burned into her mind. And of course, the remains of what she had tried, the blood on the floor…..it was a secret she vowed never to tell her daughter as long as she lived.

But there was something even worse than all of that…..far, far worse…

What started out as a normal day would later turn out to be a day to once again permanently alter her already distorted life. It was as basic as you could get- start the day, work it away, now it was closing time. Cleaning up around the shop, straightening up in preparation for tomorrow's shift.

Then the door slowly swung open, and a shadowy, chilling figure walked in. Even his footsteps, they weren't menacing in a Frankenstein sense, but more of a cold, calculated murderer way. She felt it…..she'd felt it once before. It was familiar…..

Whirling around, she came face to face with the man she had been convinced she'd never see again except in her memories. Her breath was taken away, and she held her chest as she grasped the counter in hopes of not letting her legs entirely give out.

"….Solf?" She breathlessly whispered, tears in her eyes, until she let out a choked gasp of horror when the setting sun's fading light caught his eyes. Instead of the intense sapphire blue they had been once before, the eyes she recognized and loved…..they were a twisted, darkened mauve color, with no life evident in them. His grin only served to match and even emphasize the malice within.

"Not quite, Alli. The name is Pride."

_(AN: Blah. This one feels awful forced, in terms of...well, everything. This was based off an idea I got one night- taking Brotherhood's storyline, but with the idea of how Homunculi are born from human transmutations straight from the 2003 anime. The only thing I really like here? Pride!Kimblee. While Greed is my favorite Homunculi (the first Greed anyway), Pride just seems to fit Kimblee in every way. But anyway, hope you enjoyed it regardless, please read and review!)_


	6. Before Your Eyes

"Stop….just stop….." She whispered, half pleadingly, half frustrated, as her hands squarely landed on his chest, trying to push him away. Her head turned to the side, chocolate brown locks shielding her uncertain merlot shaded eyes.

"Isn't this what you wanted?" The Homunculus mumbled, easily overpowering the much shorter woman, pulling her against him by the small of her back, and turning her face to his, as if he were trying to burrow into her wine-colored gaze with his own mauve eyes. "Isn't this what you gave up your other arm as payment for? What you crossed the most forbidden of domains for?" His breath was hot on her neck, his voice low in her ear. "You wanted him back, he's here now."

She yanked away from him, giving him the cold shoulder- literally; she shot him a disgusted look over her shoulder. "You may have his face, and his voice….you may have his entire body. But you are NOT my Crimson! You don't have his soul, or his eyes! Don't try to be something you're not, Pride!" Then she crossed her arms, staring towards the back of her shop, feeling the burning tears within her broken, distant eyes.

"I may not have his soul, Allison. But I have his memories." He mumbled, walking up behind her, hands coming to rest on her arms before slowly running down their sides. "Everything he remembered, I remember. Everything he knew, I know. ….And I know what you and your daughter meant to him."

"That still doesn't make you Solf. You'll never be him. When I crossed to the Gate, I wasn't going there to look for a replacement, or a substitute. I went there for him. Only him. And I knew deep down that my efforts were going to be in vain. I just never realized my sin would give life to his lookalike Homunculus." She whispered again, those warm, salty streams of sorrow and heartbreak decorating her face, like glass shards on a glimmering chandelier.

Then she turned to him, her anger and disgust had given away to the loss and hopelessness she kept locked within. "Looking at you is like looking at him. But there's such an agonizing pain when I look at you. Because I know that you're not the man I sought to bring back, never mind your appearance….and because you're a reminder that I failed to revive the one I loved more than anything in this world, aside from Deylia….." She was quiet for a brief moment, before turning away again and raising her hands in defeat, shaking her head. "Why am I telling you this anyway? Why do you even care? Aren't Homunculi supposed to hate the people who gave them life anyway; to want to see them suffer, make them pay further for their sins?"

"Most Homunculi, yes. But just as Kimblee wasn't like everyone else….neither am I." He said quietly, turning her back, pulling her against him once more. "I don't know you like he did. All I have are his memories to go off of. But I'll be damned if I don't get the chance to find out for myself. See, the difference between me and the others is while they want to be human themselves…..I'll be content just being with one. I suppose I'm not too prideful to lower myself to the inferior species."

The woman got a look on her face. "Let's not push it more then you already have." But in the end, she gave into the kiss the Homunculus pressed upon her, letting instinct take over, after trying to force its way through for so long.

It wasn't for him though. It was for herself. She didn't love him, she didn't think she could ever love another. She didn't even really care for him. But she could pretend….pretend that this really was her beloved Crimson, embracing her, capturing her mind and soul to do what he pleased with….even if only for a little while.

_(AN: This is one of the very few drabbles that I probably will ever do that is a continuation to a previous drabble- this one is a continuation to the last chapter, Confronting a Sin. And just like the last one, this one feels forced in every way possible. The only thing I feel is done well is Alli's conflicting emotions. Even that's not enough to save this chapter. One day I'm probably going to rewrite both and make them better. Anyway, hope you found something enjoyable about it, please read and review!)_


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